Moving On and Coming Back
by fly-away-free
Summary: Ginny's schoolgirl crazy about Harry, and as abscence makes the heart grow fonder, she likes him even more when she's away for a short bit. But something happens while she's gone that changes her perspective on life, and she'll never see Harry the same wa
1. Prologue

I never expected him to like me back. If you said he did I would have asked you what magic dragon you were puffing. First, let me explain that I grew up hearing his name uttered around my house with great reverence. He was a legend before I was born. So obviously, I never thought that he would end up being my brother's best friend- I never thought that he would spend summers at my house, sleep in a room near mine, talk to me, know I existed. Then on the day my brother Ron set off to Platform nine and three quarters, I saw him. I knew by the scar on his forehead, the shape of a lightning bolt. I'm ashamed to admit it- I gawked at him and that scar. The thrill! I actually set my eyes on Harry Potter, a boy who I heard about for half my life! My mother _talked _to him! He _smiled _at me!

I couldn't believe it- he looked nervous, poor guy. I had no idea that someone that cool could be _nervous_. I've always looked back on that day, because it makes me feel connected to him that I saw him at his weakest point. Call me crazy, but it makes sense in my head.

My infatuation with him didn't really begin until Ron started to talk about rescuing him from his house, where he lived with Muggles. And _then_! Oh and _then_! He came to our house! He sat at our table! I washed the dishes after breakfast and oh, man, it was amazing to wash a the cup that touched his lips. Okay, I admit that I trembled so much that I dropped thethe damn cup and it smashed into a zillion pieces… but no matter.

I guess I talked about him a little _too_ much- because Ron and my other brothers started to catch on that I liked him. They teased me, and teased me, and teased me some more. So when I finally met this guy (in my nightgown, with my hair a mess, early in the morning at breakfast!) I had built him up to some kind of wonder-man. Well he was, to me at any rate. So when I walked into the kitchen, looking like I had just gotten out of bed (well I _had, _but Harry wouldn't know that!) I saw him, squealed (couldn't help myself) and ran back out to my room, shut the door, and leaned against it, breathing hard.

So I admit I did rather make a fool of myself over Harry. At least I'm over him _now. _Or so I like to think.I would take him back if he should drop the smallest hint.

I try so hard to forget my feelings. But every time I see him, he makes me smile. And every time I'm with him, my heart feels light and free, but when I'm not… I think about what he said to me, and I try to interpret the smallest gesture of his. Every once and awhile, I'll be thinking about something, and he'll come, unbidden, to my mind. Like this one time- I was writing an end of year exam, and I was totally stressed. So I went to hand it into my teacher, and I realized that I had forgotten to write my name! I was like, okay, so I scribble it absent mindedly on the top of the paper.. You'll never guess what I wrote. Actually, it's kind of really obvious… _Ginny Potter._

_Obviously,_ I was horrified that I had written that. Viciously, I inked it out. I mean, _I was going out with Michael Corner!_ I thought, terrified of what he would say if he saw that. And not to mention what _Harry _would think…

Wait a minute. _I was going out with Michael Corner! WHY?_

Well, never mind. I also went out with Dean Thomas. Nice boy, but… sheesh.

Okay, the fact of the matter is, I was through with Harry James Potter. _Totally _threw with him, as of… last Monday. But no matter- the fact is, I was done. Stupid game of truth or dare. Change my bloody life around. And not necessarily for the better.


	2. A Letter For Ginny

He sat by the fire, staring moodily at the sparks burning holes into the rugs. I sat down beside him and Hermione on the three person couch. It was a typical Thursday night in the Gryffindor common room. Students doing homework, talking, and such. Not that noisy, considering Fred and George had left the previous year (a dramatic leaving, of course, they had to go out with a bang).

Hermione sighed. "they really should cover that fire, so the house elves don't have to patch up the carpet," she said reprovingly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Still on about SPEW, eh?"

Hermione nodded, choosing to ignore the way Harry said the name of her house elf help organization. "of course. I'm even thinking about writing to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, the way some house elves are treated, it's disgusting. You'd think they'd have some kind of laws…" she trailed off at the look Harry was giving her.

"Reparo," I said quietly, pointing her wand at the carpet. It magically patched itself up, and the embers were reduced to dust.

"Thanks, Ginny," said Hermione approvingly. "if we had more people like you, the house elves would have a _much _easier job."

I smiled. I've always liked Hermione's way of standing up for things she believes in, like SPEW, even though her friends made fun of her.

"What's Ron doing over there with Angelina?" Hermione asked, craning her neck to see what they were up to.

"No worries, 'Hermy'," Harry smirked, "your lover isn't cheating on you."

Hermione looked offended. "_lover_? Since when are Ron and I _lovers_?" She said scathingly.

"Touched a sore spot, didn't I, Hermione?" Harry seemed to be in a particular foul mood where he got his kicks from bugging his best friends.

Hermione turned angrily away from Harry.

"Oh, he just screwed up one of our quidditch plays rather badly," I explained, "so Angelina's making him learn them by theory."

Secretly I was thinking about how rude Harry was being to Hermione. Not that Hermione's a pushover or anything, but I wouldn't take that crap from him. Everyone has bad days, so what gives Harry the right to mouth off at his friends?

Ron and Angelina were standing in an empty corner of the common room. Ron was feverishly prodding a poster with seven red X's and seven green X's. Angelina was giving him an evil glare, and whenever Ron seemed to make a mistake, he would look over to her, flustered, and get confused. The third time this happened while Ginny was watching, Ron gripped his wand so hard that his knuckles turned white and his wand shot sparks, singeing the poster and giving off a foul smell of burning plastic. Angelina crossed her arms and gave Ron a final last glare, then threw her hands up in despair and walked away, throwing a book at him that Ginny recognized as 'Quidditch Theory Through the Ages', written by the same author as 'Quidditch Through the Ages'. Ron sighed, sat down, and opened it, looking supremely bored.

"Angelina looks like she's ready to shoot sparks," Hermione replied, tearing me away from the image of my brother pretending to read.

"Well no wonder, he was incredibly stupid at practice, thicker than a fat cow," Harry spat moodily.

Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth to stop the giggling. "a fat cow?" she asked, her face red and her voice strained from trying to not to laugh aloud.

"Yeah, it's the only thing I could think of," Harry muttered, staring at the rug in front of them, which now had more holes in it due to the embers the fire was shooting.

A fat cow. Good Lord, you could tell the guy spent the first 11 years of his life with muggles.

The three of us sat quiet for a minute, gazing off and thinking in our own private worlds.

Finally Hermione broke the silence. "Harry?"

"What?" He asked irritably, still with the annoyed tone in his voice.

"Did- did- was it… did you have another fight with Cho?" Hermione asked tentatively.

Cho. Man, did I _ever _hate her! Mostly because she's the seeker on the Ravenclaw quidditch team, and she had once won a match against me. I also couldn't stand her because of the way she treated Harry. It was horrible! I don't understand how anyone could be that cruel to Harry. Okay, maybe I'm biased, but… whatever. She's evil.

Cho seemed to solve this problem by just ignoring Harry. But he had accidentally tripped her in the hallway, and Cho seemed to be grateful for the excuse to yell at Harry. Thank God she was graduating next year. And the year after that, so was Harry… but I don't want to think about that now.

"Yeah," Harry said quietly, running his hands up and down the sides of his jeans. "it's not _my_ fault that she trips over her own bloody feet. I mean, what else is there to say once you trip someone, other than 'I'm sorry'?"

Hermione sighed so loudly that her bangs floated up. She shook her head. "I don't know. Just try to avoid her, or something."

"I guess," Harry nodded, still staring into the fire.

Hermione turned her head ever so slightly to glance at Ron. When she saw he was looking at her, she quickly turned away. I suppressed a giggle. Those two. When is one of them going to get up the courage to tell the other they like them? I mean, it's not that hard.

Okay, I just looked at Harry, and I changed my mind. It is that hard.

"So, you two coming to Grimmauld Place this Christmas?" Harry asked, glancing around at me and Hermione.

"Sure I am," I responded, "Mum, Bill, Charlie, Dad, Fred and George are in the Order, so it makes sense."

"Good grief, Ginny," Hermione shook her head. "it must make you so nervous, two-thirds of your family working for the Order of Phoenix? I feel sorry for your poor mother."

"Yeah, I never really thought about it, but I guess it _is_ two-thirds of us in it. Although I would guess that Mum wouldn't object having one more person in it." I said softly.

Hermione looked sympathetic. "Percy's still not writing then?"

"Yeah." I looked away. Thinking about my brother always made me uncomfortable for some reason. I hate him so much for what he did to my Mum and Dad. In my mind, I'm not related to him, but it infuriates me to know he thinks that way about our parents.

"Well…" Harry looked determined to change the subject. "You're coming too, right Hermione?"

"Yup," said Hermione, all too cheerfully, trying to change the subject and move it to something brighter.

There was a tapping at the window, and it was getting annoying. Rather than get up and see what it was, I just sat on the couch, hoping it would go away. Finally, I had to turn around and yell to someone to quit it.

Colin Creevy was the one who figured it out. He got up to look out the window, and discovered that there was a very annoyed owl waiting there.

"Hey, Ginny Weasley?" He yelled into the common room at large while reading off the envelope that the disgruntled owl had brought.

"Yah, that's me," I dragged myself off the couch with half the common room staring at me.

"Letter for you!" Colin handed it to me

"Like I couldn't figure that one out," I said, rolling my eyes. I walked back to the couch before ripping it open. Out fell a letter in the handwriting that I recognized as my mother's, and a picture of a man in about his 30's, with brown hair and glasses.

I studied the picture for a second, then shrugged. No clue who this guy was. Oh well. Must say in the letter.

Hermione picked it up. "Who's this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shrugged again. "Beats me, I never seen him before in my life."

"You never _saw_ him before in your life," Hermione corrected me.

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, alright already. At least leave me in peace to read my letter before you take it and correct the grammar in it." I teased.

Hermione went slightly pink. "Sorry, my parents are real sticklers for use of proper English, and I guess it rubbed off on me," She said sheepishly.

"No wonder they like grammar and proper English, I suppose they can't stand hearing another person talk like their patients do at the dentist's office while they're working on their teeth," Harry pointed out.

Hermione and I laughed. "True," she agreed.

I quickly read the letter, my heart beating faster and a feeling of disappointment came over me.

Hermione noticed the change in me almost immediately.

"Ginny? What's wrong? Is everything okay? Did someone get hurt?" She asked anxiously.

"No, everything's fine… but… I have to go live with a _muggle_!" I cried.


	3. Muggles and Melted Toffee

"A muggle?" Harry leaned over and asked, puzzled. "I don't get it- what muggle? And why?"

"Mum says here that I have to go live with her second cousin for a week… his name's Cole, and he's an accountant." I frowned as I read it.

Hermione looked taken aback. "But _why_? And _when_?"

"Hang on a sec-" I skimmed the letter over once again. "It says here- ' Your Muggle Studies Professor thought that, since you were serious about this course, it would be a great idea if you could get some real in-depth experience on living with a muggle and in the muggle world for your Advanced Muggle Studies course.'" I squinted at the letter. "And it also says here that I'll be there for the week before Christmas, arriving there the day after I left Hogwarts for holidays and coming back on the 23rd of December…" I trailed off.

Live with my mom's second cousin! I was shocked. I had barely even _heard _of the guy! Now I'm supposed to live with him? As in, be in the same house? For a week? And on such short notice! I mean… is he married? Does he have kids? Even though I don't want to admit it… the thought nagging in the back of my head is that I'll miss Harry! Pushing it farther back in my mind isn't working.

"Well, that sucks!" Harry said, leaning back. "Why can't you just interview me or something, I lived with muggles for 11 years."

"Yeah, and I sure hope that you don't turn out like him from just a week of muggles," Ron had listened to this part of the conversation. "Mum tell you about the living with Cole thing?"

"Yeah," I said, surprised. Why did Ron know?

"Oh, she told me about that awhile ago, but I forgot to tell you. Anyway, let's hope that this muggle isn't as bad as the Dursleys." Ron laughed.

Pfft. Easy for _him_ to laugh, he doesn't have to live with them! _And _he gets to be with Hermione, the person he likes! I mean, chee, there's just no justice in this world. And what's that about him knowing for awhile that I had to live with my unknown-until-a-few-moments-ago second cousin and not telling me!

"Sorry I didn't tell you, Gin, I kinda forgot." Ron said.

"Yeah, happens to you a lot these days, doesn't it?" said Harry scathingly. "Like that Quidditch practice you 'forgot' to remind me about? Angelina totally flipped her lid when I didn't show up!"

"Sorry about that, mate," Ron said apologetically.

"Yeah, you'd better be," Harry muttered. "And Angelina's got quite a temper now, considering all the stress she has, coaching the Gryffindor Quidditch Team and doing her year of teaching experience here?"

"Oh, is that why she was able to coach the team again this year after she graduated?" said Hermione vaguely from behind a book she had picked up when she saw Ron coming, her ears having gone rather red.

"Yeah, apparently she did so well in her O.W.Ls that when she got to seventh year, she could take her teaching courses right here at Hogwarts before she even sat her N.E.W.Ts, and start with job experience a year earlier," Ron explained.

"They won't let her play, though," I said, "so we really need to find someone to take her spot… and Katie's and Alicia's too. As well as the beater spots, those two we had last year to replace Fred and George after they were banned, they don't want to play anymore." I lapsed into silence and scanned the Gryffindor common room briefly. Where the heck were we going to get enough decent fliers out of this lot to make up for the ones that had left?

The day before the train to Platform Nine and Three Quarters left (which was a Saturday), I trudged into the common room, disgruntled, and covered in a sticky, sugary substance.

Ron glanced up from his quidditch playbook. "What happened to _you?_"

I flopped down on the couch across from him, causing the other people sitting on it to edge away. "It was that git, Malfoy," I spat bitterly. "for some reason, he thought it would be 'funny' to dump his cauldron full of melted Honeydukes toffee out a window, and I just so happened to be standing underneath it."

"But why would he have a cauldron of melted Honeydukes toffee?" Ron asked, bewildered.

I rolled my eyes. Sometimes my brother can be really thick. "So he could dump it on someone, duh."

Ron laughed, then instantly smothered it. "Well, why would he want to dump it on you?"

I shrugged. "I dunno, cause I'm a Weasley,anenemy of his entire family, a Gryffindor,and he just so happens to be the biggest git alive?And I suppose it might have something to do withthe factI was talking to Harry, his arch enemy, Quidditch rival, and the downfall of his father's master… but conveniently Harry had moved over to pick up a book right when darling Draco dumped it."

Ron smirked. "Youare Harrywere just talking, eh? Cause if you two think you're concealing anything, you've got another one coming. When's the wedding?"

I narrowed my eyes and glared at my youngest brother, panicking inwardly.Didhow much I liked Harry show? And another thought... did Harryfeel the same way towards me? I shookmyself mentally."Shut up, weasel, or I'll put a spider in your bed."

It was Ron's turn to glare at me. "Don't say that, Gin. Don't even _think_ it. And you're a Weasley too, remember? If you call me weasel you call yourself weasel."

"Well, you see, it doesn't have much effect, because I, unlike you, don't look the part of the weasel." I smirked, and much to the relief of the other people on the couch, who were trying to avoid my stickiness, got up (with a bit of difficulty, considering I was stuck to the couch) and trudged off to the girl's dormitories to take a shower, cursing Malfoy with every step.


	4. Homecoming Dinner

The wheels of the Hogwarts Express slowed squeakily down, and finally screeched to a standstill at King's Cross Station in London, on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. I stared glumly out the window, willing myself to get up off my butt and start hauling my truck off the train.

I was in the very last compartment with Harry, Hermione, Ron, Seamus Finnigan, Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas (we were getting along nicely, considering that I had broken up with him 2 months previously), and for some reason (I suspected because she fancied my brother) Luna Lovegood.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, each of us lacking the energy (except Luna) to get up owing to the dusk-'til-dawn end of term party Seamus and Dean had organized the night before. Luna was sitting there, reading The Quibbler, quite unaware, I'm sure, that the train had stopped moving.

Neville shook his head as if clearing it, and stood up. "I'll help you carry your trunk, Ginny," he said brightly.

I was spared the necessity of answering, however, by the voice that drifted through the window.

"Neville Longbottom!" said a sharp voice from outside. "Hurry up and get off that train, we have a million things to do, not to mention going home and doing something about that plant you left here, it's eating your bed…"

Neville jumped up. "Coming, gran!" He yelled out the window. "Sorry, Ginny…" he said to me, and began shuffling his trunk out the door. "Bye everyone… have a happy Christmas!"

"Oh, it's okay, Neville, you have a good Christmas too," I replied, relieved. I had been hoping that Harry would offer to help me with my trunk.

Choruses of "Bye Neville!" were heard throughout the compartment. Even Luna stuck her head out of her magazine long enough to blink slowly at him and wish him a happy Christmas.

"Well, I suppose we should get going…" Hermione looked around and began to gather her belongings. Everyone else followed suit.

"Yeah, come on, Seamus, the muggle train to my house leaves in half an hour, we don't want to miss it," Dean remarked.

"Oh, are you two spending Christmas together?" I asked.

"Yeah," Seamus replied, glancing up at me from packing his bag. "Me mum's going to visit her Canadian relatives, and my dad's going with her." He said bitterly.

"Why aren't you going, too, Seamus?" Hermione asked absently.

Seamus was silent. Hermione instantly realized that the reason he was staying with Dean -whatever it was- was upsetting Seamus, so she began apologizing profusely.

"Look, it's not your fault," Seamus said shortly, cutting off Hermione's apology. "I just had a bit of a row with mum, and she said… well, she said if I was going to be sulky the entire Christmas break, that coming to Canada with them would be a waste of galleons. Also she still doesn't completely believe that You-Know-Who's back. Says that it's probably just a death eater or something, pretending. Bloody woman's so stubborn, won't believe anything she doesn't like even when the proof's shoved under her nose."

"I'm really sorry, Seamus," Hermione said quietly.

He shrugged. "Nah, it's alright, didn't really want to go me self.," he grinned. "Not like I want to go to a freezing cold place on the Atlantic Coast, to eat fish 'til I grow gills, and spend time bickering with mum and getting' me cheeks pinched by me relatives. Much rather just go to Dean's, his folks're normal."

Dean looked embarrassed. "they're muggles, mate. They don't got nothin' to bother me with, 'cause course they don't know nothin' out of the ordinary's happenin', and I don't plan to tell 'em, just so's they don't bother me."

"Have your parents noticed all the muggle deaths that have been going on?" Hermione leaned over and asked keenly.

"Well, seeing as they don't know it's all 'cause of a wizard, all they know is that the world is getting to be a more dangerous place. Oh, they've definitely noticed all the deaths going on, but they'd never connect them to the wizarding world. And like I said, I'm not thick enough to tell them." Dean finished up.

"That's really interesting," Hermione mused. "I'll have to ask my parents if they've noticed anything funny, I didn't really tell them about Cedric or anything. Just said that a friend of mine died in an accident, didn't go into details."

Harry grimaced. "You sound like Umbridge- 'Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident'."

Hermione looked stricken. "Harry, I didn't mean it-"

"Sheesh, Hermione, don't take me so seriously, I just said it reminded me of her, not that I was mad or anything," Harry looked annoyed.

"Well, with the way that you go flying off the handle these days, you can understand why I was apprehensive, can't you?" Hermione snapped.

"Well- happy Christmas, have a good holiday," said Seamus hastily, snapping together his trunk and standing up.

Harry and Hermione glared at each other for a second, then wished Seamus and Dean a happy Christmas and said their goodbyes along with everyone else.

Once the two were out of the compartment, I rounded on Harry and Hermione, who were still shooting daggers at each other.

"Hermione, stop snapping at everyone that annoys you, and Harry, Hermione's got a point, you _are_ losing your temper an awful lot about stupid things, so both of you, CUT IT OUT!" I finished. Those two were getting on _my _nerves, and I'm usually calm and collected. Harry always ruffled my composed feathers, though, so I was used to it. He never used to make me mad, though.

Hermione sighed. "I'm sorry, Harry, I don't know what's gotten into me lately."

"It's alright, Hermione," Harry said gruffly. "I know I'm been acting a bit of an ass this past while. I'm sorry."

Ron stretched in his seat and stood up, surveying the mess and things strewn about. "I suppose we should get going, mum'll be wanting help with supper. We've got all of the Order coming for dinner at Grimmauld Place tonight."

Hermione's eyes bulged out of her head, and my mouth opened in shock. "_All_ of them?" I asked, amazed.

"Yeah," Ron made a face. "I don't know what mum was on when she invited the whole of them to dinner. Just imagine- spending time with _Professor Snape _on a holiday!"

The look of horror on Ron's face was enough to send everyone in the compartment into peals of laughter. Luna, laughed the loudest, as usual, because she thought everything that came out of my youngest brother's mouth incredibly witty.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I all jumped. We hadn't realized that Luna was still in the compartment with us. An awkward silence followed.

"Umm… so what are you doing this Christmas, Luna?" Hermione asked, I'm assuming, to break the silence.

Luna looked at her with her protruding eyes. "I don't celebrate Christmas." She declared. "I'm Jewish. We celebrate Hanukkah."

"Oh, cool," Hermione said pleasantly . "well- have a happy Hanukkah, I suppose. See you in the new year."

The four of us picked up our trunks, waved goodbye to Luna, and left the train.

"So," Mum beamed at me in the kitchen that night. "aren't you simply _thrilled_ to go and live with Cole for a bit? I haven't seen him in ages! And it'll be such a good experience for your muggle studies course!" Mum obviously thought that I was happy about this. Wrong.

"Well- mum… I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything, it's just…" I didn't know exactly how to put it, and I certainly didn't want to hurt my mom's feelings or anything by not being exactly ecstatic about this.

"What is it, Ginny?" Mum looked apprehensive.

"Well, it's just… I don't even know anything about the man! I mean, is he married, single, does he have kids… I've never even heard his name before!" I burst out.

"Oh, Ginny, honey, I'm sorry, I thought you knew all about Cole!" Mum hugged me. "Well, let's see… he's divorced, with two sons, Logan, and Colin. Colin's seven, and I think Logan's about 15, your age. Muggles, of course, the whole family. Only, Logan and Colin don't know about our magical family, so try not to-"

"They don't WHAT?" I was shocked.

"He doesn't know that we're magical, Ginny dear. You see, Cole does, but Logan never showed an inkling of magical power, and he never got a Hogwarts letter, so it was decided that it was better to not let him know. He's very happy in his life now though, I understand he's quite a good looking young man, and very popular. Very good at sports, too. Muggle ones, of course." She added hastily.

Oh _great._ From the sounds of it- I had to spend a week living with a 15 year old arrogant popular jock. And to top it off- he's a muggle that probably thinks magic is like _abracadabra _and a rabbit pops out of a top hat kind of thing…

"What about Colin?" I asked. "what's he like?"

Mum suddenly looked worried. "well, Colin… Colin is…" She stopped in mid-sentence, sniffing something in the air. She had left her wand in the sauce, and it was beginning to catch on fire. "oh! Oh no! Ginny, be a darling and go set the table… I have to attend to this." She bustled off, leaving me in a state of confusion and annoyance.


	5. Talks About Love

Me and Hermione sat in our rooms the night before I had to leave Grimmauld Place, our stuff strewn across the room (I hadn't gotten around to packing). We were reading quietly, occasionally reading aloud a funny bit in our books. I glanced up at Hermione, thinking. How could she be so calm and composed all the time? It's insane. I could never be that way, I just fly off the handle whenever I'm mad.

Hermione sighed suddenly, interrupting my thoughts, and sat there, staring at the ground with an odd expression on her face.

"Ginny… have you ever been so crazy about someone you couldn't even think? Or concentrate on anything!" She looked up and asked me, totally disproving my thoughts from before. She didn't sound very calm or composed, that's for sure.

"Um.. yeah… I have, actually." I said, curious as to what she was leading up to.

"Well, you know how I feel then." She sat in silence, then said, "aren't I pathetic? I'm sitting here, moping around like some love-struck ditz in a romance movie where the girl doesn't get the guy, and the guy, in my case, is living in the same house with me, and is one of my best friends of 7 years! She threw her hands up in the air. "it's crazy."

I sucked in my breath. There's only two people who fit that description in this house… and I hoped to God it wasn't-

"Harry." Said Hermione suddenly. I swear, my eyes popped out of my head as my neck did a full twist to look at the door, all the while thinking, _Harry? That's who she likes? _My_ Harry? Or is he… in our room!_. Hermione giggled. "No, he's not here. Nice face by the way, Ginny, you remind me of… aah… what was it? Oh, yeah- a 'fresh pickled toad'."

I could feel my ears going red, and my face almost turned purple, and I groaned, remembering the 'Singing Valentine' I had sent Harry in a fit of insanity in my first year. How could I forget one of the stupidest ideas I'd ever had in my life? Ohh, _Lord_ that was embarrassing. Why, oh _why_ did she have to bring that up? But still- what did Hermione mean from saying Harry's name all of a sudden like that? Did _she _like him?

"What about Harry?" I asked carefully, trying my best to sound casual and not strained at all, nothing like what I was actually doing- accusing one of my best friends of liking on of _her _best friends… and also my crush of almost 7 years?

"Oh, I don't like him, if that's what you're wondering," she said calmly. "no, I was just wondering… do you still have that crush on him? It's been a rather long time since we talked about him, hasn't it?"

"Err.. yeah it has… and tell you the truth, I actually do…" The redness in my face returned, having barely gone from the remembrance of my singing valentine.

Hermione smiled. "I thought so."

"Is it that obvious?" I asked, feeling a stir of panic. Oh gosh, I wasn't to obvious in liking him, was I? Did anyone else suspect my feelings? More importantly, did _he_?

"Sheesh, Ginny, calm down!" said Hermione soothingly. "it's not obvious, not at all… I was just wondering if you still did or not."

I sighed a sigh of relief, my worries at rest (for now anyway, being quite an anxious person, I'm bound to be worried about something else in the next minute). "And what about you… it's Ron, isn't it?"

It was Hermione's turn to blush. "Well, yes… I've always liked him, haven't I? I mean, even though I had a crush on Viktor…"

"Yeah, what happened to him?" I asked.

"Oh, we still write each other a lot and stuff, but he's found a girl, and me, well… I have this thing for Ron, right…"

"So," I grinned. "you like Ron a lot, then, huh?"

"More than you would think possible for steady, calm, Hermione Granger," She confessed. "and I'm crazily jealous about every girl he flirts with! I even was almost about to accuse you of flirting with him…" I made a small noise partly of outrage and mostly disgust in my throat, and Hermione hurried on, "until, of course, I realized… you're his sister…"

I snorted. "I know what you mean. Love makes you crazy. I've been feeing the same way with you and Harry… I know you guys are very platonic, but still…"

Hermione hit herself on the head. "Do I flirt with Harry? I really don't mean to, you know…and I can totally understand just how much it bugs you. Guess you must just loathe Cho Chang…"

I made my hands into balls. "Totally. What a complete and total scumbag. She treated Harry like dirt! Like _dirt_!"

Hermione winced. "Yeah, I'm pretty ticked at her myself. I hear she's going out with that Davies guy, now. Did Harry tell you that she had the nerve to tell him, while they were out on a date, that Davies asked her out? And she was looking at Davies, envying his girlfriend throughout their whole date!"

My mouth dropped open and my eyes narrowed. "what a total prat! And _Davies?_ Please. Harry's much better than him, any day…"

"You know, I think that-" Hermione didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, owing to the fact that Fred and George had just appeared on top of her with two loud _cracks_.

"Ouch! Geroff me!" Said Fred in a muffled voice from underneath George.

"OUCH!" Came Hermione's voice. Fred and George were both lying on top of her in a tangled heap on the bed. It was quite a funny scene, because only Hermione's head was sticking out from the mess of arms and legs.

Fred mustered up his strength and pushed George off of him. George landed on the floor with a thump. Fred looked down at Hermione (who he was half sitting, half lying on), and jumped up immediately, stepping on George's fingers.

"Ahh! My hand! You oaf!"

"Sorry 'bout that, Hermione!"

"You're _still _on my hand!"

George took a swipe at Fred's ankle, tripping Fred and causing him to land flat on his face. George (looking quite pleased with himself) straightened up and let out a breath.

"Whew. Well, that was fun." He said brightly, surveying the room. "Quite a mess in here, you know, Ginny… mum won't be that happy that you haven't started packing…"

"Never mind packing," said Fred, brushing himself off. "we came to ask you two to join us in this muggle game we heard about… it's called 'Lies about Hair.'" He frowned. "no, that can't be right… who wants to play a game where you lie about your hair?" He shook his head. "unless you're like dear old dad, he's getting a little thin on top… but never mind… maybe it's…"

"'Truth or Dare'?" Hermione suggested.

"That's the one!" said George triumphantly. "knew it was something along those lines. Anyway, we've found this wicked cool spare room, and everyone here under the age of 20 is going to play while the Order's in a meeting that goes til midnight.. Want to?"

Hermione and I exchanged glances. "Sure, why not?" I said agreeably.

George rubbed his hands together. "swell. Let's get cracking, then."

"Wait!" I said. "this isn't… getting us to try out your new joke shop inventions, is it?" I asked suspiciously.

Fred laughed. "Nah. Although that _is_ an idea…"

George sniggered. "Can you imagine? That'd be laugh riot!"

"Anyway, come with us, we'll lead the way…" Fred danced around the room and yanked open the door, leading us into the hallway and down the stairs.

I shot a questioning glance at Hermione, and she explained as we followed Fred downstairs. "Truth or Dare is a kind of question game. One person starts by saying 'truth or dare?' to another person. If the person that got asked says truth, they have to answer a question that the person that started asked. If they say dare, they have to do a dare that the person says. It's totally fun, we used to play it at sleepovers all the time."

"Sounds fun," I grinned.

"Oh, it will be," said George, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "there's a couple of things I've been dying to ask you two… and of course, making Ron do something completely revolting will be wicked fun as well."

Fred grinned. "I've got a few ideas for Ickle Ronniekins myself."

I laughed, secretly vowing never to choose truth.

George reached a small room slightly off the entrance, and flung open the door impressively. "ta-da!"

I walked in first, closely followed by Hermione and then the twins. Harry and Ron looked up from a chess game, saw us, and grinned.

"This is going to be great," Fred rubbed his hands together and grinned evilly.


End file.
